The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

Later.

The strategy completely changed.

Although no one asked Kang-hoo directly, all three were certain that Kang-hoo could suppress Duke Blut’s Blink.

Thus, Miyuki also began to press Duke Blut with her ultimate fire magic.

“Kuuaa! Kuaaaah!”

Massive spears of flame flew in at regular intervals.

Because Kang-hoo kept a close distance, Duke Blut was having a hard time.

Unable to use Blink, he was forced to defend, and his skills were limited to shielding.

The problem was that even amidst this, Kang-hoo was constantly aiming at his flanks and rear.

“Kraaaagh!”

In the end, Duke Blut was struck by the decapitation slash once again. It was a vicious cycle.

If he tried to dodge Kang-hoo’s decapitation slash, he couldn’t avoid Miyuki’s flaming spears, and vice versa.

An Yeong-ho, noticing that Kang-hoo was exhausting his stamina with the decapitation slashes, supported him with long-range healing.

Meanwhile, Eto effortlessly blocked Duke Blut’s counterattacking spells.

The attacks were ineffective.

All Duke Blut could do was defend as he continued to take a beating.

Eventually, driven into a corner, Duke Blut, in a desperate attempt, tried to drain Kang-hoo’s blood.

It was the perfect timing, as Kang-hoo was approaching to land another decapitation slash, making the situation ideal for bloodsucking to work.

However.

Pyororong!

“……?”

Sensing Duke Blut’s attempt to drain his blood, Kang-hoo summoned a slime with the Cutie! skill and retreated.

As a result, Duke Blut was left tasting only the jelly of the poor slime. His fangs sank into the wrong target.

At that moment.

Whoooosh!

A massive fire dragon, even stronger than the earlier flaming spears, flew toward Duke Blut.

It was clear to anyone that this was a skill with a long cooldown time. If hit, he would be reduced to ashes, leaving no bones behind.

Even though he couldn’t use Blink, Duke Blut increased his speed, trying to move and escape.

Since Kang-hoo had retreated after summoning the slime, it seemed like an escape was possible.

But then.

Popopopop!

Suddenly, explosions of blood erupted from his entire body.

Caught in an unavoidable explosion, his body flailed like a ragdoll.

At that moment, Duke Blut realized just how doomed he was.

The Blood Flower completely paralyzed Duke Blut’s movements. No matter how much he willed it, his body wouldn’t respond.

And then.

Kuaaaah…

A pillar of fire rose where Duke Blut stood, engulfing him entirely.

Though his silhouette was blackened, it was clear to see Duke Blut caught in the flames.

‘He’s not dead yet.’

Tat-tat-tat!

At that moment, Kang-hoo was already rushing toward Duke Blut.

If the silhouette was still visible, it meant that he hadn’t yet been torn apart or killed inside the flames.

As expected of a mid-boss monster.

This was a preview of the higher-ranking boss monsters Kang-hoo would face in the future.

They don’t die easily. Even when struck by a surprise attack, they don’t die instantly.

They endure with tough durability and resilience, lasting until their special defense mechanisms are broken.

【Line of Distortion】

As he sprinted at full speed, Kang-hoo created the starting line on one side and began stretching it out.

Next, Kang-hoo made the ending line, pulling the Line of Distortion taut before pushing it forward.

It was as if he had tied a rope tightly between two pillars and then pushed one of them forward.

In the next moment.

“Kuhheok!”

The Line of Distortion naturally wrapped halfway around Duke Blut’s neck.

Soon, the line contracted and tightened, circling around Duke Blut’s neck like a scarf.

【Distortion】

The distortion activated right after.

Even for the battle-hardened companions, a gruesome scene unfolded before their eyes.

Duke Blut’s neck started to slice open as blood spurted out in all directions, as if it was being sawed by a wire.

This only lasted for a moment; Duke Blut’s body, already weakened by the Blood Flower and Miyuki’s Flame Dragon, had no strength left.

Deng!

Caught in the Line of Distortion, Duke Blut’s neck couldn’t withstand the pressure and was severed from his body.

It was an instant death.

【You have leveled up to 227!】

Immediately, the level-up notification appeared.

Perhaps because this was a special reinforced dungeon, the experience points were quite rewarding. It felt like a significant gain.

There were no dropped loot items. Everyone grumbled about the lack of rewards after such a fight, but…

Kang-hoo had no complaints, as he had already achieved his primary goal of stealing skills.

The newly activated skills were short-range teleportation and bloodsucking. It seemed that the skill they had tentatively called Blink had a formal name.

‘Bloodsucking it is.’

It didn’t take long for him to decide.

For Kang-hoo, there were plenty of alternatives to Blink-type skills.

Rather than moving a few meters with Blink, switching positions using Shadow Step was far more efficient in his current situation.

Moreover, Blink-type skills should never be used when mana interference or distortion phenomena occurred.

In short, as the restrictions on usage increased, the value of Blink-type skills decreased for Kang-hoo.

Once he chose Bloodsucking, the skill information appeared in his skill window.

【Bloodsucking - Human】

【Skill Proficiency: Lv. Max】

【Drains the blood of a living ‘human’ to restore health.

The longer the bloodsucking duration, the exponentially higher the amount of health restored, while the opponent’s health rapidly decreases.】

‘I won’t use it often, though.’

It’s not a skill to be used in regular combat.

With stronger skills available, there would hardly be a need to risk embracing the enemy just to suck their blood.

However, in an exhausting close combat situation, it could become a deadly counterpunch.

The structure of the skill allowed him to recover health as he drained the enemy’s life force.

This meant that not only did he recover, but the gap between his and his opponent’s health would widen by a factor of two.

‘It suits my pale complexion, I guess.’

Kang-hoo let out a quiet chuckle.

Sometimes, when he saw his pale face in the mirror, he couldn’t help but think he looked like a vampire from a movie.

“Wow! That final combo was amazing! Thanks to the setup you created, Kang-hoo, the Flame Dragon hit perfectly!”

Miyuki rushed over and enthusiastically gave Kang-hoo two thumbs up.

Her voice was filled with excitement, perhaps from witnessing such a fantastic combo play.

“Our skills worked in perfect harmony.”

“It was originally meant for suppression! But thanks to the explosion you created, it ended up being a finisher!”

“Well done.”

Kang-hoo made sure to acknowledge her supporting firepower. Compliments, after all, were like a tonic for anyone.

“Brother… Can’t you just stay in our guild forever? I’d love to keep enjoying this view.”

‘Japan’s Park Dong-jae’ had already turned into a praise machine, spilling out words of admiration.

Sometimes, the level of his compliments was so high that it made one wonder if Park Dong-jae was being sarcastic.

But since An Yeong-ho was bound by a constellation that allowed only truth, there was no doubt that he was sincere.

“I’ve never seen Blink being suppressed before. With Duke Blut’s main skill blocked, he turned into a fool right away.”

“Thanks to Eto’s defensive skill drawing his attention, our flanking attacks worked.”

“You flatter me. I’m just glad we could clear a difficult section more easily. You were amazing.”

They exchanged compliments with Eto as well.

Though the conversation might seem cheesy, there wasn’t a single person insincere in this exchange.

During their journey through the middle and later stages of the dungeon, there were no particular issues.

No wraith-type monsters appeared, nor did they encounter any tough monsters with high endurance.

Of course, since the tricky parts of this dungeon usually began in the mid-to-late stages, everyone was on high alert.

And then.

Chwaak! Chwararak! Chwaak!

The sound of a powerful whip cracked through the air, loud enough to be heard clearly even from a distance.

“It seems like they’re finally coming.”

“Now, the main stage begins.”

Miyuki and Eto let out deep sighs and started loosening up their tense bodies.

This was the point where Kang-hoo’s reliance on the Bleeding Sustain skill would become crucial.

The monsters they now faced were called Fallen Berserkers.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Their entire bodies emitted a bluish light, as if they had been soaked in poison.

Their primary weapon: whips.

Their striking range was quite long, and the power of each hit was strong, making them a burden for close-range fighters.

These monsters had extreme resistance to both physical and magical attacks unless they were inflicted with a bleeding effect.

Although not quite 100%, their resistance increased so much that they were nearly impossible to damage.

On the other hand, once bleeding was inflicted, they died much faster than regular monsters.

The problem was that there were so many of them that dealing with each one by inflicting bleeding individually was impractical.

If they approached without the bleeding effect, the Fallen Berserkers would apply tremendous pressure.

“Eto, since you can cause bleeding in one-on-one combat, focus on taking down the nearby ones individually.”

“Understood.”

Kang-hoo took the lead in issuing the main orders for this section.

Even though Eto was of a much higher level than Kang-hoo, he immediately nodded and followed the orders.

From the start, Miyuki, Eto, and An Yeong-ho were all open-minded hunters, so they didn’t let level dictate their attitudes.

“Miyuki, focus your firepower on the Fallen Berserkers affected by bleeding. No need to use your big skills recklessly.”

“Got it.”

“Yeong-ho, take this opportunity to practice combat. Even if you accidentally heal the enemy, don’t worry. Just go for it.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

Pang!

Kang-hoo spread out his Shadow Step in five different directions, scattering shadows all around.

At the same time, his main body charged straight toward the Fallen Berserker that was approaching from the front. The monster was already tightening its grip on the whip.

Shiiik!

The whip swung back.

As the Fallen Berserker rotated its shoulder forward, preparing to strike with the whip—

“Ueek!”

The monster let out a startled sound as it was suddenly pulled toward Kang-hoo, caught by his Kidnapping skill.

Its movement to swing the whip was disrupted. But that was just a minor issue—the biggest problem was…

Puuuk!

It was struck squarely by Kang-hoo’s decapitation slash. The blade pierced right through the center of its chest.

【Blood Flower】

Popopopop!

The start was clean.

The Fallen Berserker, struck by a combination of the Decapitation Slash and Blood Flower, had no chance of surviving in its weakened, bleeding state.

It exploded like a firecracker, dying instantly.

Since the Decapitation Slash consumed both stamina and mana, it couldn’t be used recklessly.

However, Kang-hoo wanted to completely overwhelm the first one as a show of force, and his plan worked.

The group of Fallen Berserkers, baring their yellow teeth in aggression, hesitated for a moment.

Position switch.

This was the beginning.

Kang-hoo began switching places with the shadows he had attached to the other Fallen Berserkers, striking them.

【Bleeding Stab】

A basic skill that induces bleeding.

【Bleeding Enhancement】

【Skill Proficiency: Lv Max】

【Doubles or triples the effectiveness of bleeding skills at a random chance.】

With the Bleeding Enhancement passive applied, each Fallen Berserker suffered from bleeding for 4 to 6 seconds.

Compared to the usual 2 seconds, it was a much longer duration.

Puk! Pupuk! Puk!

It took Kang-hoo only about 2 seconds to induce bleeding on all five of them, evenly and “fairly.”

Normally, this time wouldn’t even be enough to deal with a single one.

But in that time, Kang-hoo had killed one.

And on the other five, he induced bleeding, stripping them of their resistances in a flawless performance.

And that wasn’t all.

He was already planning to continue the bleeding chain, using Shadow Step again.

Kang-hoo had prepared the entire table by himself.

All that was left was for the three of them to dig in and finish the job.